The present invention relates to an image data processing system, more particularly to an image data processing system or server system capable of perusing and processing memory-stored image data as required.
In recent years, digital cameras and home-use digital printers have been rapidly proliferating, owing to improvement in image processing technology. Along with this, actual users', knowledge and understanding of the usefulness of digital images are also becoming deeper and these products are coming to be used in various applications such as creating Internet homepages and printing digital data. In the meantime, the image output centers and minilabs (small-scale photofinishing laboratories) providing an image print service, and big labs with centralized processing capabilities are also naturally increasing as service providers who handle digital image data, and variations of digital image data services are diversified.
It is known as an example of such digital image data services that at a photo shop, the customer, after uploading the image data of a negative film into a server made open on the Internet, can make requests for reprints and place an order for a premium such as a photo mug or T-shirt, based on the authentication information pre-assigned to that customer only. Customers who are permitted to peruse image data can also receive a similar service.
Such service available under prior art, however, poses several problems. That is to say, although no problems arise when the number of customers wishing to receive the service is small, as the Internet proliferates, service providers are coming to be required to keep and handle not only negative films but also various other types of storage media ranging from analog hardcopies such as prints and reversal films, to such compact flashes, SMART media, memory sticks, and SD memory cards as used in digital cameras or other storage media. Also, since image data may be disclosed on the Internet unconditionally as a service, the number of customers wishing to receive the service is likely to increase significantly. In such a case, as this number of customers increases, it will take greater deals of time and labor for the service provider to check for matching between the authentication information pre-assigned to the customer and actually entered data. In addition, when convenience stores can be used as a supply window for the service, it is difficult to familiarize all staff of the convenience store with a complex acceptance procedure similar to that of prior art, and it is therefore desirable that the acceptance operations be made as simple as possible. Besides, in such case of convenience stores as mentioned above, since all service requests accepted at a plurality of shops need to be processed in one place, further simplification of operations is required.
Furthermore, a more efficient administrating system is also required for the image data print accounting process.
In addition, there is the problem that when a great volume of image data is uploaded into the server, indifferent storage of the image data over an extended period requires the expansion of the server in storage capacity and thus results in vast initial costs and maintenance costs. Providing massive image data indifferently on the Internet also poses the problem that communications traffic becomes enormous; in some cases, a server failure occurs.